Monday, January 02, 2012

new year's day brunch - eggs with veggies

This is probably my favourite easy meal. I have actually posted this recipe before, but never with photos, so here it is, in all its glory. I eat this for breakfast, lunch or supper interchangeably. It always includes eggs and cheese. Those are the constant ingredients. Sometimes I serve it with a warmed tortilla (then I call it "tortilla and eggs"). Sometimes I add rice or potatoes on the side, if I'm serving it to a hungry eater. I usually eat it just the way it's shown in this post, eggs and veggies. The veggies can be whatever you have on hand. I try for an abundance of green plus at least 2 other colours. This dish has to be colourful.

Begin by chopping up some veggies. This time I used purple onion, red pepper, red tomatoes, green broccoli and green kale. Ideally I would have used yellow or orange pepper to add another colour. It seems redundant to use two red veggies, but red was the only pepper colour in my veggie drawer on New Year's Day, so there you go.

Chop up enough for one serving or more, but cook just one serving at a time. It takes a frying pan to make one serving of eggs with veggies. Heat the pan, add some olive oil and saute the veggies briefly. They'll cook some more along with the eggs, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

So now the veggies are beginning to cook and they're all lightly coated with the olive oil. Make a nest in the middle of the veggies and break in two eggs. I'm careful with this step because I like my yolks whole and soft. If you like the broken and firm, go for it! Top the eggs with some bits of cheese. I used Macedonian feta this time, but pretty much any kind of cheese works well, and you don't need much. Try your favourite and let me know how you like it. Oh, I sliced on some slivers of kalamata olives too.

Now plop a lid over the veggies. You can use a lid big enough for the whole pan. I prefer a lid just big enough to cover the food. It makes a tight little dome inside of which the eggs cook sunnyside (using the steam from the cooking veggies) and the veggies get cooked a bit crispy on the bottom. You can experiment with this part too, if your preference varies from mine.

For cooked whites, runny yolks and slightly-browned-on-the-bottom veggies, I give it about 3 minutes on medium high heat. You can peek and poke and decide when the eggs and veg are done to your liking. Then you just slide them out onto a plate. I like a little salsa on top. I had some leftover hummus that my niece made, which I served on some lavash crackers with a drizzle of olive oil.

With a meal like this, who needs to nibble the leftover chocolates from the New Year's party? Not me!

question: what do you like to eat the day after the party?

mompoet - May your 2012 be filled with everyday meals that taste like a celebration of goodness!